The Angkor Empire Wikia
Geography The Angkor/Khmer empire occupied an extremely large portion of South Asia. The empire expanded to reach Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. The Mekong river was within the Empire. The entire Khmer empire is made up of groups of smaller Khmer kingdoms. The Empires capital would change regularly due to the constant change of rulers or kings. These capitals include: Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Jayendanagari, Yasodharapura and Hariharata. All of these cities were located at fertile regions of the Tonle Sap. A majority of these cities are located very close to each other which allows for easy access from city to city. The climate of the Khmer Empire was extremely hot and because of this, the Khmer people were only clothed from the waist down. The Mekong river's main water source resides in the Tonle Sap Lake. The Angkor Wat used the Tonle Sap Lake as a source for water in the form of aqueducts which hydrated people and food in the form of fish and rice farms. Today, the kingdom only resides in Vietnam and Cambodia. People of the empire were given the ability to build floating houses and villages on the Mekong River. There were very few roads during the time of the Khmer empire so the people used the Mekong River to function as a trade route. It was incredibly successful due to the fact that the river expands throughout the Khmer empire and even to the Gulf of Siam. Water was used in moats which surrounded buildings of royalty like the Angkor Wat. Rice was the primary crop for the Khmer and so the Khmer people also used the Mekong River as a rice field. They created many canals and irrigation systems which allowed for 4 harvests a year. In the time of the wet seasons, the Mekong River would often flood and destroy the farms. To mediate this problem the farmers created reservoirs and dams to ensure they could control the flow of water. This water could then be used for the harvest the following year. This made farming extremely efficient and assured a harvest every year which was vital due to droughts. Some of the harvest was used in trade and made the Empire extremely wealthy and allowed for the construction of many religious buildings. Social Organisation The society of the Khmer empire was a hierarchy much like other older cultures. A hierarchy is a social organisation in which everyone has their place on a social structure. Predominately, the rich were high on the social structure and the poor were low on the social structure. The social structure came to be after the rule of king Jayavarman II. The Khmer society were dependant on kings and temples. The aristocrats were in charge of land and resources for the village temples. The temples acted like storage due to the majority of resources in the temples. People of lower ranks gave the king and nobles donations of food and gold in return for protection and legal power. All the different ranks of people were dependant on each other. Kings Kings in the Khmer Empire were believed to have powers. Kings were the highest rank on the social structure and because of this nobles and military leaders were required to swear an oath of loyalty. If the oath was broken, the punishments were severe. The kings were believed to be Hindu Gods on Earth to lead and bring life to their empire. The kings responsibilities include: temples, the nobles as well as the people. The kings were required to respect his people no matter what rank of the social structure they are in. Nobles Nobles were the second highest rank on the social structure of the Khmer Empire. It is said that nobles had just as much power over the Khmer inherited to them by the king however the nobles still had to pledge utter and complete allegiance to the king. Nobles or aristocrats were in charge of land, resources, food and armies. In a battle, the nobles were the leaders of their army. Taxes were payed to the nobles in which a majority of the taxes were taken to the temples. Peasants and Artisans Peasant were the 2nd lowest rank of the social structure of the Khmer Empire. Peasants did the manual labour in the empire. The most common work for the peasants was working on the rice farm. Tending to the rice farm was regarded as the most important job due to the economic system built upon trade and the Khmer Empires main stock being rice. Peasants would also go fishing for food to feed their families as well as donating to the nobles as tax. Other peasants also worked as merchants who would trade with other kingdoms and empires. The merchants were predominantly women whereas the men worked as fishermen and rice farmers. The peasants were poor and lived in very bad conditions. The houses had thatched roofs, no furniture and no tiling. It is said that if a peasant attempted to build a house in the form of that of a nobleman's, the peasant would be punished. Along side the peasants were the artisans. In the time of the Khmer Empire, there were very few artisans. Artisans had the same life as a peasant but rather than working on farms and trade, artisans worked on crafting and construction. Artisans were extremely important in a battle because they were in charge of creating weapons and because of this nobles put a lot of trust in them. Slaves Slaves were the lowest on the social structure of The Khmer Empire. The history of the slaves is not clear but there have been two theories as to what role the slaves played in the Khmer society. The first theory is that the slaves were prisoners of war captured and forced to work for the nobles. Peasants could also become slaves if they were unable to pay taxes. The second theory as to what slave were was that the slaves were servants of temples. These 'temple slaves' worked for the priests. However most historians don't consider the temple slaves as slaves at all. Monks and Priest The monks were in equal rank with the nobles during the time of Mahayana. The monks and priests were hereditary meaning that they must earn and inherit the role. The priest, or Brahmin, as they were called, had quite luxurious lives. The priests were often isolated from the rest of the empire and lived rather a quiet life due to praying and worshiping in temples for a majority of their day. The Brahmin's power in the Empire was based on the temple and religion and because of the impact the temples had on the social structure, the Brahmin had almost full control of the Empire. Their power would eventually fall during the rise of Theravada Buddhism. This was because the rank of Monk or priest became no longer hereditary so anyone could become a priest. This made the rank of monks and priests drop to an equal rank with the peasants. Religion During the time of the Angkor empire, 2 religions were more popular than the others. These two religions are Buddhism and Hinduism. Among these 2, Hinduism took precedence. There are many Hindu buildings in the Khmer empire. One of which is the Angkor Wat which is the largest religious building in the world. Hinduism Hinduism came to the Khmer empire through the trade routes. There were many Chinese and Indian traders who influenced the people of the Khmer Empire about their religion, Hinduism. From the 9th to the 12th century, the Indian religion known as Hinduism became the Primary religion of the Empire. The people of the Khmer Empire found a fondness towards Hinduism because the Indians who visited the Empire were flourishing and seemed elegant. The Khmer people believed that the Hindu Gods gave the Indians prosperity and strength. The Khmer people built temples and shrines for the Hindu Gods in hope that they would protect the Khmer people. The People of Khmer particularly followed three Hindu Gods: Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. Hindu temples in the Khmer empire were found to have inscriptions in Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language. The inscriptions show that people used the language of Sanskrit in temples were used to communicate and worship Gods. Many of these inscriptions are written in the form of poetry. Buddhism Buddhism has been present in Cambodia since the 5th century. Buddhism in Khmer Empire had 2 branches of beliefs, Mahayana Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism came to the Khmer Empire at the end of the 12th century. It is said that Mahayana Buddhism became known through trade much like Hinduism however it was Jayavarman VII who accepted it into the Empire. In the years of the Khmer empire there have been many Buddhist kings such as Jayavarman VII and Suryavarman I. From this, Buddhist temples were built and monks resided in the temples meditating. Mahayana Buddhism is a branch of beliefs which state that people should be unselfish and be enlightened through helping others. Unlike Theravada Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism believes that everyone goes to heaven. In the 15th century Theravada Buddhism became the dominant Buddhism religion. However during the DK period, Buddhism, along with other religions, were destroyed. Buddhist temples were destroyed and Monks were slaughtered. Buddhist practices were forbidden until it was revived in 1985. Theravada Buddhism follows the earliest teachings of Buddha. Some of these teachings state that people must chooses the 'enlightened path' and everyone after death is reincarnated. It also states that people should be pure in heart so they maybe reincarnated to a better life. Differences and Similarities Hinduism and Buddhism were the primary religions in the time of the Khmer Empire. In today's world, one of the most well known religions is Christianity. Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity are vastly different but they do have some similarities which can't be over looked. Comparison-Buddhism and Hinduism similarities: -both have idols and temples -both originated in India -the concept of angels are not present in the religions -not gender bias -the concept of karma is present in both religions Events Of Significance Significant individuals Jayavarman II Suryavarman II References http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/ataglance/glance.shtml http://www.diffen.com/difference/Buddhism_vs_Hinduism http://www.cambodia-travel.com/khmer/society.htm http://www.ancient.eu/Khmer_Empire/ http://thekhmerempire.yolasite.com http://www.britannica.com/biography/Jayavarman-VII http://thekhmerkngdom.yolasite.com Oxford Big Ideas-Australian Curriculum by: Maggy Saldais, Richard Smith, Tony Taylor, Carmel Young.